“The Dog Ate My Evidence: What happens when the government can’t re-create the case against you?” Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“U.S. partially backs Vatican in abuse suit; Holy See can only be sued as nation”: This article appears today in The Louisville Courier-Journal.

“Mukasey Favors Independent Justice Dept.” The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Attorney General-designate Michael Mukasey told Senate Democrats Tuesday exactly what they want to hear during his confirmation hearings: That he’d be willing to say ‘no’ to the White House and review the administration’s eavesdropping and interrogation techniques.”

On this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered“: The broadcast contained audio segments entitled “Desegregation Plan Criticized by Black Parents“; “House Passes Federal Shield Law“; and “What Happens to Horses as Slaughterhouse Closes?” (RealPlayer required).

“Watchdog group eyes Alabama; Says 2008 judicial elections to be expensive, nasty”: Yesterday’s issue of The Birmingham News contained an article that begins, “Next year’s race to replace retiring state Supreme Court Justice Harold See is one of five judicial elections nationwide that merit close scrutiny, the watchdog group Justice at Stake said. Expect the kind of no-holds-barred battle between business and plaintiff trial lawyer interests that have helped Alabama set the standard for expensive and nasty elections, said the Washington-based group that monitors judicial elections.”

“House Expected to Back Media Shield Bill”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“Defendant-appellant John J. Connolly, Jr., a disgraced former agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, appeals from the denial of his motion for a new trial in a celebrated criminal case.” So begins the opinion that Senior Circuit Judge Bruce M. Selya issued today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Bottom line: judgment affirmed.

“Scalia: Catholicism has little effect on his judicial decisions.” The Philadelphia Inquirer provides this news update.

“Fantasy Sports Win Right to Player Names, Statistics”: Bloomberg News provides a report that begins, “Companies that operate fantasy sports leagues have a First Amendment right to use players’ names and statistics for free, a court ruled in a case filed against Major League Baseball.”

My earlier coverage of today’s Eighth Circuit ruling appears at this link.

“Lawyers Say Justice Repeating Detainee Hearings”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Dahlia Lithwick appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Day to Day.”

Third Circuit rejects challenges to FCC order that substantially limits federal regulation of high-speed Internet access service provided over traditional telephone lines: According to today’s decision, “The dispute centers, in large part, on the FCC’s decision to relieve telephone companies of decades-old regulations that required them to grant competing Internet service providers nondiscriminatory access to their wirelines in order to reach consumers.”

“The Surprising Legacy of the Bork Hearings”: Chris Eisgruber — whose new book I recently mentioned at this link — had this post yesterday evening at “Balkinization.”

“Crime Lab employees frequently worked with corpses, so pornography depicting necrophilia might not have the same shocking overtones there as it would in another setting.” So observes a decision that a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued today.

Ninth Circuit vacates as moot its decision holding that arresting the homeless of Los Angeles would violate the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: The order that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued late yesterday can be accessed at this link.

A divided three-judge panel on April 14, 2006 issued the ruling that was vacated yesterday.

My earlier coverage of the three-judge panel’s ruling appears here and here. And the April 24, 2006 installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com was headlined “Arresting the Homeless Is Unconstitutional? Where the 9th Circuit Went Wrong.”

“[W]e hold that CBC’s first amendment rights in offering its fantasy baseball products supersede the players’ rights of publicity”: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit today issued its ruling in C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P.

Today’s majority opinion begins:

C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing, Inc., brought this action for a declaratory judgment against Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P., to establish its right to use, without license, the names of and information about major league baseball players in connection with its fantasy baseball products. Advanced Media counterclaimed, maintaining that CBC’s fantasy baseball products violated rights of publicity belonging to major league baseball players and that the players, through their association, had licensed those rights to Advanced Media, the interactive media and Internet company of major league baseball. The Major League Baseball Players Association intervened in the suit, joining in Advanced Media’s claims and further asserting a breach of contract claim against CBC. The district court granted summary judgment to CBC, see C.B.C. Distrib. and Mktg., Inc. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P., 443 F. Supp. 2d 1077 (E.D. Mo. 2006), and Advanced Media and the Players Association appealed. We affirm.

Back on August 9, 2006, I had this post linking to extensive news coverage of the federal district court’s ruling.

Justice Clarence Thomas’s book tour officially begins today with a stop in New York City: If you can’t attend in person, you can watch the festivities online beginning at 12:40 p.m. eastern time by clicking here.

“Scalia courts conflict: ‘Fundamentalist’ justice goads Roberts to be bold — from his own safe spot.” Tom Levinson had this op-ed Sunday in The Chicago Tribune.

“Judge defends conduct at hearing; Ethics in question over letters to publisher”: The Boston Herald today contains an article that begins, “Superior Court Judge Ernest B. Murphy yesterday aggressively defended himself against charges of willful misconduct for sending letters on court stationery to the publisher of the Boston Herald after a jury awarded the judge a $2.1 million libel verdict.”

And The Boston Globe reports today that “Judge in Herald libel case hoped letters would end family’s trauma.”

“Not a mirror of Genarlow Wilson’s case”: Matt Towery has this op-ed today in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Convertino case heads to Jordan to obtain testimony; Four aboard a helicopter when photos were allegedly taken of a hospital are to be questioned”: This article appears today in The Detroit News.

“Mack jury selection moves slowly”: The Reno Gazette-Journal contains this article today.

“Sen. Craig appeals judge’s ruling from airport arrest; The Idaho Republican filed with the Minnesota Court of Appeals, but papers don’t show the grounds for his request”: This article appears today in The Minneapolis Star Tribune.

And The Washington Post reports today that “Sen. Craig Appeals Judge’s Decision; Lawmaker Wants To Withdraw His Guilty Plea.”

“U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear Modesto case”: Today in The Modesto Bee, Michael Doyle has an article that begins, “Modesto’s at-large council elections lost big today, as the Supreme Court declined to hear the city’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling. Issued without comment, the Supreme Court’s decision means Latino residents will be able to challenge the at-large elections in a Stanislaus County trial. The residents claim the at-large elections discriminate against minorities.”

And today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko reports that “Supreme Court denies review of state law favoring minority voices.”

“More Milberg Weiss Pleas Are Likely”: This article appears today in The Wall Street Journal.

And The New York Times reports today that “After Not-Guilty Pleas, Lawyers May Part Ways.”

“Court Won’t Take Up Delayed Executions”: Robert Barnes has this item today in The Washington Post.

“A Reprieve in Nevada Adds to Lethal-Injection Drama; With Supreme Court Taking On Issue, Some States Apply Brakes to Executions”: The Washington Post today contains an article that begins, “An eleventh-hour reprieve in Nevada last night for condemned murderer William Patrick Castillo marked the latest victory for opponents of the death penalty who do not regard lethal injection as the humane method of execution that its supporters say it is.”

In local coverage, The Reno Gazette-Journal reports today that “State justices halt inmate’s execution.”

And The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that “State’s high court stays execution of Castillo.”

“High court sets date for Del.-N.J. hearing; BP gas terminal plan at stake in legal battle”: This article appears today in The Wilmington News Journal.

And The Gloucester County Times reports today that “Court tackles LNG battle.”

Linda Greenhouse is reporting: Today in The New York Times, she has articles headlined “Justices to Hear Challenge to Money-Laundering Law” and “New Jersey and Delaware Take Long-Brewing Boundary Fight to Supreme Court.”

My earlier coverage of the Fifth Circuit‘s February 2007 en banc ruling in the money laundering case appeared in a lengthy post titled “To convict someone of international money laundering, no actual washing, folding, and ironing of the money is required.”

“Dianne Feinstein’s Vote for a Judge Has Civil Rights Groups Asking ‘Why?'” The New York Times yesterday launched a new blog called “The Board,” “written by The New York Times editorial board, a group of journalists with wide-ranging areas of expertise, whose primary responsibility is to write The Times’s editorials.”

That blog’s first substantive post yesterday begins, “Mississippi Judge Leslie Southwick, whose record includes decisions that have been labeled anti-black and anti-gay, is just the sort of Bush judicial nominee everyone thought would be blocked when Democrats retook the Senate. But Judge Southwick may be headed for confirmation thanks to Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat.”

“Juror choice crucial for Nichols; Defense lawyers will be able to declare victory if they can find one panelist out of 12 who resists prosecutors’ call for capital punishment, analysts say”: This article appears today in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, along with an article headlined “Jurors questioned, but can the trial go forward?”

The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “The price for death: As Brian Nichols’ trial moves forward, Fulton must brace to pay even more for his defense.”